


Bonds

by hxshigaki76



Category: Naruto
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Funny, Hurt/Comfort, OOC, Out of Character, Out of character mitsuki, Post-Boruto: Naruto the Movie, out of character orochimaru
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2018-05-22 09:37:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6074298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hxshigaki76/pseuds/hxshigaki76
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Kusanagi Sword went missing for almost 20 years but only now its absence creates some disturbances in the Shinobi World. Surprisingly, it seems to be related to Mitsuki, and not so much to his father. He never once touched the sword, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Home

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: I am currently modifying the fic!  
> Hey everyone! This is my Naruto Next Generation fanfic. The first chapters will be very vague about Mitsuki's intentions and about the hideouts in Otogakure but I promise everything will be crystal clear later on! :D  
> I do not own Naruto.

“I’m back, mama!”  
“Welcome home, sweetie! Hurry up and wash your hands, dinner is ready. Me and your dad will be waiting for you in the kitchen.”  
The teenager was tired after today’s mission. She had to train a genin team for few days while their teacher was gone, and that was the last time, fortunately. They were quite loud and obnoxious for some 12 year old kids.  
  
Ever since the Otstutsuki attack in Konoha, Sasuke stayed home more and more. Family meals were now a normal thing but the Uchiha family really valued them.  
  
“These days as a teacher made me realize that I am not mentally fit for that. The job was, indeed, a success, but I could’ve snapped anytime. Those two little brats were only bragging about how they are better than the other. Even though the girl on the team wanted them to stop, she was only yelling at them and that wasn’t helping me at all!”  
Her mother chuckled at Sarada’s words. That quite remembered of her own team. It didn’t actually seem like long ago, but time sure has passed. There she was, married to the man she had always loved, talking to their daughter that was soon going to become an adult.

“I never thought I would say that, but I miss Boruto. ChouChou, Inojin and Shikadai have some work in Sunagakure with helping out the Kazekage, hanging out with Sumire and the other girls can get a bit monotonous.”  
“How about Himawari?”  
“She is training very hard with Hinata-san and Hanabi-san every day. But I’ve heard she... kinda got bored. Not sure what she really meant, though.”  
It was not surprising to her parents; the female Hyuuga and Uzumaki descendant has always been particularly talented, and it was no exaggeration when people said she would surpass her father easier than anyone else. But then again, the Uchiha princess, as the villagers called her, was a favourite candidate for a future Hokage.

“Honestly, Metal Lee would’ve been an option, too, but he is a similar case to Hima. And Mitsuki had to leave for one year to Ryuchi cave and Otogakure, so he could master the Sage Mode. As if he wasn’t already good enough... He was the only person I could talk to and not get in an argument with. Sort of."  
Sarada was right; Mitsuki was a mature person, despite being almost one year younger than everyone in his group of friends.  
  
“And when is Boruto returning?”  
“Probably soon enough.”  
“Uh, well, that’d better be true. I think he can barely make it through without you near him-”  
“MOM!”  
Sakura had a dorky face on, while Sarada turned red immediately. Sasuke tried his best to ignore his wife’s remark. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, their feelings for each other were rather obvious and after all, there was no reason for him to get worked up about it. He knew that Boruto was a good and caring person, capable of appreciating his daughter.

“Mom, dad, how’s like going on a mission that actually requires fighting other people?" Sarada found herself asking out of the blue. "I mean, I am glad that nowadays everything is peaceful and I am thankful we are not at war, but I can’t help wonder how everything was like back in your days. For example, what mission did you go on together before the war?" she paused of a bit thoughtfully, then carried on with a bit of uncertainty, "Come think of it... you barely told me anything about your teenage years.”

Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other for a second, not knowing what to answer her.   
The two of them agreed that Sasuke would be the one telling Sarada about their past, mostly about his. She barely asked anything like that before, and when she did, Sakura would only give vague answers and change the subject smoothly and fast. However, the last time was over one year ago and it just felt like right then, there was no way the subject could be avoided. Her father was there, the key to all her unspoken and unanswered questions.   
Sakura closed her eyes, took a deep breath and started:  
“You see, Sarada, your father and I-“  
“Sarada! Aunt Sakura! Uncle Sasuke! I am finally back!”  
  
A tall, blond boy appeared out of nowhere in the kitchen, through the window. Obviously, it was no other than Boruto. Apparently, he returned from his two month trip to Kumogakure with Kakashi. This sudden visit, though, angered the pink haired woman at first, but then she realized the boy just saved her and her husband from a delicate moment.  
“Boruto, idiot! You don’t just come into someone’s house uninvited, by the windo-”  
“Boruto, kiddo, no time no see! Great to see you back! I hope Kakashi didn’t turn you into a full pervert during this trip. Come in, have some food!” Sakura put an arm around the boy’s neck and dragged him to the table, near Sarada. Sasuke smirked at her as she grinned back, with some relief in her eyes only he could spot. Boruto saved the married couple from a conversation with their daughter that they still wanted to avoid.  
  
“Uncle Sasuke, Kumogakure is great! It was amazing and I had a good time with Kakashi-sensei; he let me read the Icha-Icha trilogy and I gotta say, it’s without a doubt the best treasure Jiraiya-sama could leave as legacy to all the next generatio-“ he got lightly smacked in the head by the young Uchiha, who looked quite angry.  
“How ignorant! Jiraiya-sama, one of the Sannin, who tried so hard to bring peace and wrote actual masterpieces about the life of a ninja, will have to be remembered because of _those_ books? Dad, I thought training someone was supposed to include some disciplining, too.”  
“Hn. Can’t help it," he shrugged. "Two months with Kakashi can nullify the years spent with me. Also, genes are a thing, after all.” Sasuke couldn’t help but remember all the times Naruto and Kakashi tried to corrupt him read those novels. It was only obvious Boruto would turn out to be more or less just like his dad.

“Anyway, Sarada, I have great news! Kakashi-sensei and I stopped yesterday in Otogakure, at aunt Karin’s place. She told me Mitsuki would  be back by tomorrow!” The joy on their faces could be easily noticed. After all, they were best friends, for better and worse. Mitsuki would visit them on their birthdays and he would call them over at Karin’s on his birthday, where everything at the hideout looked... more socially acceptable.  
Sarada’s parents couldn’t help but smile at the two of them. They could only be glad that their daughter got along well with her teammates who could also call her second family, thing which took some time for Team Seven to accomplish. 

“Kakashi-sensei asked me to give you this. He said it is very important,” Boruto addressed to Sasuke. The brunet raised an eyebrow. The Uzumaki handed him an envelope and so, Sasuke left the room to read it, with Sakura following him.

 _“Remember those hideouts similar to the Akatsuki ones, placed near Kumogakure and Otogakure? I think they started making their moves. However, there are small chances that Orochimaru is involved with them. I can’t believe I am saying this but at least if it was him, we would’ve known our enemy very well. I will report this information directly to the Fifth and the Seventh. Also, it would be great if you could keep tabs on what Orochimaru is up to these days in general. Having an eye on him is still recommended. You can only tell Sakura about it, leave the kids out of this. They don’t know enough, yet.”_  
  
After he finished reading it, Sasuke burned the message with his ocular power. Sakura had a worried face on but it was justified. The case seemed way too important if the information was required to be delivered immediately. Still, both of them were hoping for the best.  
  


 

 _\-   -   -_  

“So you are finally leaving.”  
Log has always been a decent brother. He cared enough to bother remember Mitsuki's friends’ names, which one are his closest and what matters most to him. It would have been so much easier for Log if Mitsuki stayed in Otogakure, helping him around, but he knew better than that: Mitsuki wanted to go back in Konoha. He went to Ryuchi cave to get stronger and better, to be sure that he woud always stand alongside Boruto and Sarada.  
“Well, Log, it’s not like there’s much for me to do here at all. All the current experiments were successful, I’ve saved the ones that seemed a lost cause and no one died. Dad said he will take a break, as he seemed satisfied with all the outcomes and I really miss the people in the village. Not to mention that my main goal, mastering the Sage Mode, was completed some time ago.”  
“That’s true. You’ll be missed here, brother,” they hugged and patted each other brotherly on their backs. These moments were nice to have from time to time, since Log was not necessarily the first person to show his affection with physical gestures.

“I have a feeling we will see each other soon,” smiled Mitsuki.  
He broke away the hug slowly and picked up his phone, headphones and backpack from his room and said his goodbyes to Log.  
  


Back in Konoha, he learned from Tsunade almost everything he knew. From ninjutsu, taijutsu and medical skills. The woman was not only and aunt to him but also his master. Mitsuki lost the count of the times he chose to sleep at her as he really enjoyed her presence but also because he had to finish the training as well. He sure was an excellent student  
 He improved everything in Otogakure with Karin’s and Orochimaru’s help. Even for someone like him, who easily passed the Chunin Exams, the training was really hard, but no one ever said that it had to be easy.

Mitsuki missed Konoha so much, he would almost call it home.  
 _Almost._  
Rumours started going around regarding his background, more exactly that Orochimaru was his parent. Some kids in the neighbour started avoiding him and sometimes even call him names. However, for two years he stayed silent and no one was aware of his situation. in his opinion, it was for the best not to make a huge deal out of it, as he knew better. It was quite frustrating, he couldn't deny it; he did nothing wrong and his dad had no intention of attacking the village, that chapter ended long ago.  
  


“Dad, I’m off to the village. Do I have to do anything else before I leave?”  
“Just help me clean up here and you’re free to go.” They were in the main lab. The boy left everything at the entrance of the room and started helping him out. It was no big deal, just washing the equipment and disinfecting everything. He washed his hands, put his gloves and lab coat on and started doing his job.  
“So you’re actually going back, huh? Who would’ve thought?”  
“You knew too well already that it was about time. Also, I miss them, what can I say. My friends, my team, my first teachers, they’re all there. Also, I think _she_ would be really happy to see _this_ ,” he pointed to his forehead, where his rhombus-like marking for the Yin Seal was placed. “I am her second apprentice who was able to acquire it, and even earlier than Sakura-san.”  
“And she will curse my name forever just because,” the Sannin spoke on a fake innocent tone, which made Mitsuki chuckle. “But without a doubt, she will be pleased; you’re not even 17 yet. Not to mention that your ninjutsu skills nearly surpass mine and hers, and we’re still the Sannin, after all.”  
“You make it sound like you’re preparing me for war.”  
“Can’t I just be proud of my son?”  
“Yeah, I guess,” he hesitated before he could reply. It was a bit too flattering.   
  
Mitsuki took off his lab clothing and made his way to the exit of the hideout, with Orochimaru leading the way. It was already 9 o’clock and the moon was already up. That was it. It almost felt like that time when he was going to move in Konoha for the first time, to attend the Academy, to make it as a Chuunin and make his family proud. But a lot of things changed since then, and a lot more were to come.   
They just stood there at the entrance for some time without saying anything, staring at the starry sky. There was a rather uncomfortable silence between them, or at least that's how Mitsuki felt it like. On Orochimaru's lips a typical grin of his started forming. Without waiting for a remark coming from his youngest son, he started speaking his mind:  
"I'll be coming to Konoha as well. And I'll stay for a bit or more."  
  
Mitsuki had no idea how to respond to such affirmation. At first his mind went blank then he started feeling anxious in the worst way possible.   
"Don't worry, I am not leaving right now with you-"  
"But why do you have to come?! It's risky and you know it! You don't even have Lord Seventh's approval! What about Yamato?" His son was really revolted about Orochimaru's intention.   
"I assure you, Mitsuki, I have a feeling I am an expected guest and Naruto couldn't be happier to have me there. And don't get me started with _that._ He's probably sleeping somewhere around here. I almost pity him."  
Mitsuki still had a confused look on his face but Orochimaru just smiled at him and waved him goodbye before disappearing back in his cave.


	2. Team Konohamaru, Reunited!

At the entrance of the village a wave of nostalgia hit him immediately, as everything resembled last year's memories he had. Even at night, the village was bright due to all the street lights and skyscrapers, but also its people. They usually had a genuine, positive aura around them which in no way resembled what Otogakure inspired.    
He wasn't even thinking about the lack of a homey feeling back at the hideouts, but rather the domain itself. It was usually just the 7 of them, if he counted Yamato. In rest just nature. Vast forests with all sorts of trees and flowers you could only find there; and even though at first it may sound and look like a fairy tale, once a person is in the middle of it, they actually feel small, inferior, an outcast, like they have to run away as soon as possible. To Mitsuki, it stopped being scary and started being a bit fascinating but it still wasn't the place he wanted to live.   
Konoha was right in front of him, and he wouldn't have had it any other way. Soon enough, this would be the place to actually be his home, no lies and no pretending.

The boy went straight to his apartment with the intention of taking a fast shower and going to sleep. He was lucky to catch the train, even though it was just a one hour ride from Oto to Konoha.   
Much to his surprise and displeasure, he felt a cold wind coming from the living room. As soon as he took his shoes off, he hurried in to the room to see if anyone broke in through the window. He found it open, but no one else was to be seen. He inspected the room carefully, looking for clues. It didn't take him long to spot some light brown hair on the floor. Mitsuki smirked.   
"No need to hide, ChouChou, but please just use the front door next time, and maybe crash by only when I invite you."   
"But it's no date, Mitsuki, the situation is rather urgent so I allowed myself to get in, with the help of my beloved teammates," the girl revealed herself, along with Shikadai and Inojin. The brunet held some files in front of Mitsuki and told him to take a look at them. Ignoring how he wasn't properly greeted, besides ChouChou's teasing, yet typical remarks, he took the papers and sat down, starting to inspect every word.   
"Why should I read your report from Suna? Plus, I thought you were supposed to spend more time there."   
"The mission was cut short because of another diplomatic visit from Iwa. We could have stayed there to finish other small issues but honestly, the weather in Suna is such a drag. The last part is what you might find interesting."   
After he went through pages and pages of "we went there, did that, discussed about that, engaged in combat with these people", Mitsuki finally got to the last paragraph, which began with the bolded word " **Kusanagi** ".   
"Oh, how convenient," he thought.

_" **Kusanagi**. 4:26 p.m.   
A scroll which is labeled so, was found by Nara Shiakdai, Akimichi ChouChou and Yamanaka Inojin on the west side of The Land of Wind, near Sunagakure. At 4:45 the team brought it to the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara, to be inspected. Upon opening it, he could come to no conclusion, as the text is cyphered. The only recognisable characters are the kanji for "snake" and "moon". With the Kazekage's approval, we, as Konohagakure chuunin, took the scroll back to deliver it to Uchiha Sasuke, person nominated by the leader of Sunagakure as capable of voicing his thoughts, opinions and knowledge on such scroll._

_6:10 p.m. - End of the mission_

_Author of the report: Nara Shikadai, chuunin of Konohagakure."_

Orochimaru had lost the sword when Itachi battled with Sasuke. Better said, it disappeared. Its former owner asked Kabuto and Team Taka about it, but neither parties knew anything about it. After the war, finding the Kusanagi became his main obsession. He travelled through all the lands of the shinobi world and gathered as many clues as he could, yet he didn't find anything at all.    
He then had to drop the search, once Log came back to Otogakure and encouraged Orochimaru to take on the Synthetic Human project  again, as he offered to be his right hand. He created Mitsuki, and the satisfaction he got from the boy and his abilities made the Sannin forget the grief of losing the katana. For a while, at least.   
A year ago, when his son came back to Oto for more intensive training, they both started looking for the Kusanagi, nearby the village and in the Ryuchi cave. No results during that period of time, either.   
Only then Mitsuki had a clue about the sword; when he read the report. How could it slip from Orochimaru, such precious information?

He did not show any emotion, though. The boy obviously knew how much it meant to his father, so he had to put on an act, in hopes of finding out more. Still, what Gaara and the teens in the apartment knew did not help Mitsuki's case; that small piece of information pointed specifically towards him for some reason, despite the sword existing even before his father had been born.

"No need to hide anything, Mitsuki. We know it's about a sword. Your parent's, to be more precise."   
"It's not like I know anything. I'll try my luck and ask you, however, if you could show me the scroll."   
The three teammates exchanged hesitant looks.   
"Only if _he_  says you can," responded Inojin, with a slight smirk on his face. "Kazekage's commands. Gotta do what he says first."   
"Makes sense."   
"Till then, let's light up a bit, shall we? Since we basically broke into your apartment, we bothered to get some food, at least, and thought of sitting down for some chit-chat and a cards game. You up for it?" ChouChou has always been a thoughtful friend and even in such shady situation, she thought it was more important that Mitsuki came back and probably was tired, just like them. 

The four of them had some burgers, soda and played cards. Occasionally, they would complain a bit about their families, each of them for different reasons.   
"Mom won't shut up about how I have to go on a diet! I am very confident in myself and also I am healthy, thank you!"   
"Mom is getting angry with dad for working overtime... but I have a feeling it's he Hokage she wants to murder."   
"Mine keeps scolding me for not practicing the Yamanaka techniques, even though I have enough potential, or something like that. Honestly, they only come in handy in teamwork."   
"Aunt Karin and dad argue so much over any small thing in my life but never really ask for my opinion."   
They continued discussing about what else they did while Mitsuki was gone, from missions to silly gossips and plans for the close future. What was about to come next for each of them sounded quite promising.

* * *

 

He couldn't sleep at all.   
His friends had left after some hours. Shikadai only showed him the scroll, but didn't let him open it. What he saw resembled something his parent kept in one of his gigantic storage rooms. Mitsuki assumed that it was probably another copy of said scroll in Otogakure. Why would there be another one, though? This made the teenager feel uneasy, drowned in thought.   
He tried falling asleep but there was always something wrong; the bed was uncomfortable,  there were too many pillows, he would be too cold, or too hot. In reality, it was just the thought of the scroll, and he knew that as well. But what was with the "snake" and "moon"? It was the Chinese kanji as well, used for his name, but why? Was it just a coincidence? It must have been, he had never once touched the sword. And why were those characters the only ones that were not cyphered, besides the title?

After what seemed like hours of restlessness in bed, he got up around 5 a.m. He still tried to adopt a positive vibe. He was going to meet with Boruto and Sarada today, have a great time and not even think about bothersome subjects that could possibly remind him of the sword or his father's sneaky behaviour and questionable way with words. It would be only about them.   
He couldn't help but notice the bright sun rising from behind the Hokage rock and the skyscrapers. It was as if the blinding orange light was melting them. A magnificent, yet typical sunrise in Konoha.   
"I really missed this," he found himself talking alone.  
  
A bit later, he texted Sarada and Boruto to meet him in the park. 

* * *

 

 _  
_“I told you the millionth time, Himawari! This is a team reunion, I don’t understand why you would want to tag along with me!”  
“Because I also missed Mitsuki-kun! He’s not just your friend or Sarada’s!”  
“But you’re not our teammate, Himawari!”  
It was just another noisy morning at the Uzumaki residence that consisted in a fight between the two siblings. Hinata tried to interfere, but it was useless.  
“Boruto, I don’t think Sarada or Mitsuki would mind if she tags along…”  
“But mom, that means I have to look after her!”  
“I can take care of myself! And I am 15, don’t think that I am just a child!”  
Both of them stopped when their father. He entered the living room, clearly in a hurry. Naruto was determined to end that stupid quarrel ASAP.  
“Now, now, you two! Boruto, you should understand that you can’t just tell Himawari what to do.”  
The girl gave her older brother a huge evil smirk that pissed him off.  
“Therefore, Hima, you can obviously go if you wish; I'm sure _nobody_ will mind it," she let out an enthusiastic “yes!” while Boruto just groaned.

The Hokage left immediately, saying goodbye to his family. Shortly after, the siblings made their way to Sarada’s house, to pick her up.

As they got there, Boruto and Himawari were greeted by Sakura, who was very happy to see the youngest member of the Uzumaki family. Sarada appeared immediately at the door, and had the same reaction at the sight of Hima. As they hugged each other, the youngest girl threw Boruto a glare that made him clench his fist.   
On their way to the park, it was like Boruto didn’t exist; they just seemed to ignore him completely, with the purpose of making the blond angry. Served him right for coming uninvited in the Uchiha house and for thinking that his little sister was helpless. He had no choice but let things be.   
He thought of how Mitsuki had been doing in the past year; sure, they had still texted each other and met on special occasions (not for long, though), but you don’t get to realise via these actions how much a person could change after a period of time spent in another place with other surroundings and different kinds of people. Did that message he gave to Sasuke have to do anything with his friend? He was worried about the worst that could happen because he didn’t have to see Orochimaru more than once to realise that the man was no good, despite Mitsuki venerating him with every given occasion. He would think sometimes that the kid was brainwashed or something.  
Boruto looked at Sarada for a second. He realised that she herself was in distress as well, even though she appeared to have a good time with Himawari. There was no doubt she had the same thing on her mind. It was quite irritating, for a reason, to see even the smallest trace of sadness in those big, black and hypnotising eyes. He ended up staring into them for God knows how long, without necessarily realising.  
“Boruto, is there something wrong?”  
“What? Uh, no, nothing…” he just turned his head away, slightly blushing. His younger sister noticed that right away, and grinned.  
  


As soon as the three members of Konohamaru Team met in the park, silence fell between of them. After a minute of awkwardness and staring at each other with open mouths trying to get something out, but without any success, they got closer and hugged each other as tight as possible. Himawari was pleased to see them like that, yet a tad emotional.    
"I missed us," mumbled Sarada.   
"Getting emotional?"   
"Boruto, we can feel you sobbing," remarked Mitsuki.   
"Oh, shut up!"   
When they broke away from the hug, the three of them were smiling. Mitsuki also turned to greet Himawari. 

They were good friends. Every time the blue-haired boy visited Boruto, he would always end up helping the brunette with her homework and occasionally help her practice Taijutsu. The three of them also hung out quite a lot, in an attempt to help Himawari learn the village. She always outstood to people as smart and sharp, probably a bit more than her brother. Mitsuki didn't fail to notice those traits in her. He was impressed with her strength and ability to learn difficult notions of ninjutsu.   
A few months before leaving, they started hanging out without Boruto, but usually only for training. Of course, they would also deviate and discuss other stuff and slowly, they actually got to know each other. 

This time, however, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was, and how bright her blue eyes really were. He found himself stuck with words.   
"Good to see you back, Mitsuki!" she grinned.   
"Glad to see you again," he could barely be heard, but she got the message alright.

* * *

 

The four teenagers chose to spend their time at Ichiraku’s, eating ramen. Boruto was proudly talking about his progresses and how strong he managed to become with Sasuke’s help, and revealed that his speciality was none other than Rasengan. Sarada started off as usually with her ambition of becoming Hokage. She showed enthusiasm when she saw Mitsuki’s Yin seal. However, she was a bit envious since she was also training to achieve it. Himawari mastered most of the Hyuuga techniques and succeeded in combining the Kyuubi chakra with the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists. It was, indeed, impressive, that at her age she could achieve such skills.   
Mitsuki preferred staying silent and not talk much about the experiences in Otogakure.  
“Another bowl here, please!” Himawari called.  
“Right away!”  
  
“Uh, Himawari, how come these two are not yet together?” it was a sudden question of Mitsuki, but it made the girl laugh almost maniacally. Mitsuki could be such a tease at times.  
“Right? It’s so obvious they love each other so much but maybe my brother is too scared of uncle Sasuke and Sarada is a little tsundere. Aren’t they hopeless, Mitsuki?” Sarada and Boruto had at that point their faces as red as tomatoes. They had nothing to say in their defence, either. Hima’s tone was so innocent, yet it felt like a knife in the back to those two. Mitsuki only responded with a chuckle. He wasn’t even surprised, it was just like them.  
But those two also had something up their sleeve as well.  
“And, dear sister, who is the lucky one, eh? I bet there must be a guy you’re crazy about-ttebasa.”  
“Mitsuki, you surely traveled a lot in this year, so where is the girl from? Suna, Iwa, Kiri?” Immediately after, the Uzumaki and the Uchiha quickly exchanged sights and then looked again at the other two, speaking simultaneously: “Or is it something between you two?”  
There was a moment of silence that made even the waiter that brought Himawari’s dish wonder what happened.   
The girl was too smart to give them a reaction that would satisfy them, such as aggressively denying or laughing out loud. And even though it was more than clear that up until that moment it would’ve impossible for Mitsuki and Himawari to exist as a couple, her reply was still an interesting one.  
“Who knows?”  
Boruto and Sarada looked at Mitsuki, who played along with a smirk.  
As the youngest girl of the group finished the other bowl, she broke the awkward silence.  
“It’s such a nice thing, to see you all three like that again. You guys have a special bond, maybe a stronger one than the one between my dad and Sarada’s parents. Or at least just as strong. It really makes me joyful! I really think you should pay Konohamaru-sensei a visit as soon as possible; he would also be very pleased, I am sure!”  
Their smiles were undoubtedly genuine and Himawari’s words were surely needed. Boruto and Sarada were sad when Mitsuki left, even though he promised he would come back and would never give up on their friendship. So to Sarada and Boruto, those words and Mitsuki’s comeback made them remember about how he kept his promise.

  
“Not denying it! Here we are, Team Konohamaru, reunited!” These were Boruto’s words, as he put his arms around the other three and pulled them closer.


	3. Old Teammates

A heavy knock distracted the man from staring outside the window.   
“Come in.”   
At his personal office, at the Konoha headquarters, Shikadai Nara showed up with a lilac scroll. It was rather light and old looking.  

Another message was not exactly what he wanted; if somebody had something to tell him, it was usually bad news.   
And they were  _bad_  news. The last thing Sasuke wanted was to get involved with something linked to Orochimaru. Again. 

”During our last day of staying in Sunagakure, my teammates and I found this. We were told by the Kazekage to bring it to you. The text is not in Japanese. Still, the characters for “Moon” and “Snake” could be decrypted, both written in Chinese. I mean, yeah, the kanji for "moon" is the same in both languages but I’m not sure if that's the point. We were led to believe that it has something to do with Mitsuki and his parent.” 

Sasuke could not condemn Mitsuki’s existence. The Uchiha himself had been a victim of prejudice, based on his clan, so he knew better than to simply label the boy. Plus, the interaction they had was minimal. Sarada described him as weird, but also as a good friend and an exceptional teammate.    
These signs, however, only led Sasuke to question how "good" the timing was. Orochimaru’s son returned at the same time as Kakashi, who came back with a note regarding new and obscure hideouts near Oto, and now, with a suspicious scroll from Suna that basically screamed “Orochimaru’s doing”. 

He cursed the snake’s name in his mind, letting out a deep sigh. His displeasure was not hard to spot, thing that made Shikadai feel a bit uneasy. To him, Sasuke Uchiha was still a mysterious individual.   
_“Sarada may look like her father, but her aura is definitely more like her mother’s. That’s a relief, since she can be quite scary anyway,”_ he thought to himself. 

After a minute or so of inspecting it, Sasuke noticed the resemblance of the alphabet used in the scroll with the one used by the Ootsutsuki clan. It looked like a simplified version, but it could have been a useful clue. The kanji for moon and child were written near the main body, relatively close to each other. He couldn’t see the reason why such a scroll was written in this particular language, or why the author was so specific with the latter situation. As much as he tried, he couldn’t really connect the dots.    
The only link he could name on the spot between Orochimaru and Sunagakure was the assassination of the previous Kazekage, which had happened a long time ago, during a short period of time. Sasuke had stayed by his side for about four years and came in contact with him for another one or two later on, but the Sannin's interests were mainly with Kirigakure and other small villages.  
Was it that  _maybe_ , it had nothing to do with Orochimaru? Or could it be that the sword had been stolen by Orochimaru's family, then passed on to him? If not, then maybe a text regarding some sort of prophecy?    
There were too many questions that crossed his mind. He decided it was best to stop for a moment. 

"I will keep the scroll and put together the pieces of information I have with what the other Hokage knows."   
"Understood. I will let the Kazekage know."   
Sasuke nodded, then Shikadai excused himself and left the office. The Uchiha, however, had an idea of who could know better than the Hokage. 

 

Tsunade was obviously content with being retired. After decades of work in the hospital, fighting in three wars and spending almost 6 years as a Hokage, she had enough of it. When Kakashi took over, she still had to stay around to show him how everything worked, but when it was Naruto's turn, she was finally done with everything for real. Sometimes, the woman would sleep for days. Or, she would wake up, make some tea, then watch dramas or soap operas till she fell asleep again. She deserved some rest, though.   
But on a fateful day, she woke up to someone knocking on her door. And that certain _someone_  was to be expected. 

 _"I want to become a medic nin." It was the first thing the boy said when she opened the door._    
_After staring at him with_ _widened eyes_ _, she replied: "You must be kidding me. Is that snake going to allow such thing in the first place?"_    
_"I believe my parent trusts my choices. Above that, I believe he trusts you more than anyone else in Konoha."_    
_She laughed a bit at his words. "Should I feel flattered by this? 'Cause I cannot lie, he almost got me with this one. If you really know what you're signing up for, come on in, Mitsuki, the lesson starts now."_  

_Tsunade got out some books and taught him the basics. He was a fast learner, and that gave The Fifth more than enough time to make her new disciple master complicated techniques. It was also such a joy to see him genuinely interested in what they were doing. Whenever something went wrong, the child never really got too frustrated; he handled everything cautiously and with calm, much like his fatherdid long ago. To the blonde, it was a pleasure to have someone like Mitsuki as her student. She was genuinely proud of him._

Now that he left the village, she went back to staying in bed all day, or occasionally going out with Shizune or Sakura. She wasn't crazy over not having a constant activity, but nonetheless, she was contentwith her current life. 

 **_Knock, knock_ **  

"It's open, Shizune!" She wasn't necessarily expecting her, but it was normal for her to crash by without calling before.   
Tsunade was in the living room, with the TV on while also playing a silly game on her mobile. Her favourite pair of large pants kept her warm on that chilly day of October. The long sleeved kimono on her fit her perfectly; it was that item of clothing that would boost up her self esteem in seconds. As she took a sip of tea, she raised her eyes, to meet the ones of whoever had just entered. She then spat out everything immediately.   
"Orochimaru?!"   
"It's been a while,  _Hime_."  
She noticed the closed door behind him. As she gave him a venomous look – which was only returned by a smirk – Tsunade pulled the curtains together as a safety measurement. Without waiting for any invitation, the other Sannin took a seat on the couch and poured himself some tea in some cup that happened to be on the table.   
"Black tea; my favourite! Good thing I came while it's still hot."   
"How'd you get in the village? Wasn't Yamato supposed to watch you?"   
"Why don't you go and tell the Hokage I'm here, then? Isn't that the  _right_ thing to do?"   
The blonde rolled her eyes and sat on the couch as well, but at a certain distance from her ex-teammate.    
"Let me rephrase it, then.  _Why_  are you here?"   
"Now that's better, darling!" He really stepped on her nerves at times. "I believe that I am a visitor the current leaders expect for various reasons. Since I am such an ally to Konoha, I thought  _Why not come here myself before they bother to write a formal letter and send it to Oto?_ "   
"You're no ally. You are not in prison because you did the right thing for once, and it almost excused you for all the other atrocious things you did. Same thing with Yakushi and Uchiha."  
"Yadda, yadda. Details, my dear friend," he drank from his cup, then spoke again. "Now, seriously, I wanted to discuss something with  _you_."  
She raised her eyebrows, as she saw his expression turning into a more serious one. Thinking it could be something important, she told him to follow her downstairs, in her lab. 

It was like a hospital room, but bigger, and with a lot more than medicine on the shelves. It had no windows and the smell of sanitizer was almost too strong. Orochimaru immediately spotted some documents and scrolls which appeared to be exceptionally well taken care of, considering some were older than the two of them. In the centre, a huge desk with lots of drawers was set. On top of it, loads of files were scattered across its surface. He was about to make a remark regarding her lazy way of handling work, but ultimately gave up. They sat on opposite sides. He started off with a low voice.

"Some mysterious hideouts appeared near Otogakure, and in other villages between mine and Kumo. The thing is, I have nothing to do with them. I asked Karin to identify the people going in and out; they wear black masks with different patterns, much like the old ones from Kiri. Also, their uniforms are grey cloaks with hoods, so it was hard to characterize any of those people. I find it quite smart that there are only members of average height and without any handicap, so none of them stand out. As you would expect, we couldn’t identify the members of the organization we suppose exists.”   
“Is it possible that we might have to deal with a new Akatsuki?”   
“It’s not unlikely. Even if we don’t know their intentions, we can assume they are up to no good since everything is kept hidden from the public eye.”   
“But who are they? There was no disappearance of any exceptionally talented ninja.”   
“You have a point, Hime, but do the people of Suna know about the incident from Kiri and the new Seven Swordsmen?” She slowly nodded.  “The only reason Konoha was informed on this matter is because Mitsuki’s teammates got involved with it. These people could come from Kiri or other small villages which are not that well organised. Even from bigger villages who work by similar politics to those in Kiri. We don't know what’s going on behind closed doors.”   
Tsunade had a thoughtful look on, trying to make sense of the situation. 

“Why does it bother you? If you  _are_  telling the truth, and these people have no ties with you, why do you care to share it with me as a problem in the first place? I’m curious.”   
“They might just have the Kusanagi.” She opened her mouth, trying to say something, but nothing came out. Her eyes were locked with his, golden ones filled with determination. 

He had that sword ever since his parents had left for war. It was said his mother crafted it especially for him. It was odd, since the woman was not that skilled with swords, so rumour had it the Kusanagi was, in fact, stolen. But it belonged to Orochimaru, nevertheless. No one else reclaimed it and the sword fit his hands like a glove. Tsunade knew just how much it meant to Orochimaru, especially as a child. But because of the atrocities he committed, it was hard for her to say that the sword still belonged to him rightfully. Maybe the sword was better off lost. 

“And I suppose you believe that I can help you. Not Karin, not Suigetsu, Juugo or Log. Not even Mitsuki.”   
“Smart as always, Tsuna.” His smirk was back. “I need to go and search it for myself, but a helper would be just perfect.”   
It didn't take her long to realise something was rotten.   
“So, in no way you came to Konoha to get some sort of approval for sneaking out of your cave to search for something that could help you in a possible attack against the village? That's how desperate you are for my help?” At this point it turned into a teasing game. They were incredibly close to breaking into a fight. They held back  _a lot._    
“I don’t really need an actual approval; the thing is, I will make the Hokage perfectly aware of how things are, so it’s clear that all my cards are on the table. And they  _will_  let me go out and search for it because the unknown is a fear, an enemy to them. Now, the people with grey cloaks represent that. I am what they know, a safe source of information, they will have no other choice but to trust  _me_ _._ And if your ego has an appetite, then yes, I am  _desperate_  for Senju Tsunade to be by my side.”  
“But how can  _I_ help you? How could I be useful to someone that is always a step ahead of my small and clueless village?”  
He chuckled, then looked again into her eyes with a grim look, accompanied by a supposedly sweet smile.   
“I thought you would join me either way. Just for the sake of the good old times.”   
First thing he got as a response was a death glare from the blonde. She had had enough of him for one day. With that tone and facial expression, there was no way in hell she would join  _him_  on any mission. She despised this particular attitude of him; provoking and somehow meant to induce fear. 

“If you really took your time to come here and discuss such important matters with me, then you might as well act serious until the very end. Don’t forget who you’re speaking with, Orochimaru. What you’re trying to pull on Naruto and Sasuke will not work on me. I know how to say "no", and it’s not that hard, believe me.” It was clear the woman was dead serious. 

Obviously, he was not going to beg her on his knees to join him; that would have been humiliating. It was crucial, however, to have Tsunade near him. Everyone in Oto had to stay in the hideouts to take care of everything, and Mitsuki was not cut for such mission. Between Tsunade and Sasuke, the only available people who were able to work with him, the woman was the one he trusted more. Her bossy attitude annoyed him back, yet the brunet had no choice but to somehow ask her again.  

“I don’t need anything in return. For this sole purpose, I do want to help you out. But don’t act around  _me_  as if you deserve everything and everyone should be at your disposal. You should know better, anyway; you’re no child, but a parent.”  

She was pouring salt on an open wound. She had common sense in her and with that, the blonde successfully combated him. It was maddening for the brunet.  

Tsunade stood up and started walking around the desk, rambling.   
“Besides, don’t you know it all? Aren’t you the one who basically played God and created li-“   
She _really_  got him this time.    
Orochimaru reached for her wrist and grabbed it almost tenderly, just to make sure she listened to him. He stood up as well and fixated her once again with his eyes. Tsunade could almost say that it was an honest look.  
“It’s not only about me, but the sword and the mission itself. To get it back, I need someone strong by my side, and no, now I'm not trying to flatter you or anything.” This caught her attention again. His posture and somehow silvery voice convinced her that his case was, after all, worth listening to.   
“You still don’t make any sense, but go on.”   
"In an emergency, we would know how to act because we know each other well enough; how we act on impulse, what we have up our sleeves, the determination to attack, you name it. And between me and them, who do you think the Hokage, for example, trusts more with a sword like Kusanagi?” 

Orochimaru was a bad liar. He had always been good with keeping his mouth shut, but saying something that was not true; he wasn’t cut for it. 

She took a good look at him. What she first noticed was his physique; he appeared to be younger than ever. His softer features made his face a lot more pleasant to the eye, alongside his more human-like skin tone, a lot fairer. Those golden eyes were full of spark and glow were arguably not as icy as she remembered them. His black locks of hair were framing his face, and through them, his silver earrings reflected the light inside the room.  

This image of him… was not a new one. 

Obviously enough, Tsunade couldn’t assume anything. However, she decided to trust him. As far as she could tell, he was  _honest._    
“There are more things you have to tell me, I believe. But fine, I’m in.”   
“It’s wonderful being reassured that I can count on you,” he replied, now with a faint smile on his lips. That was when he almost let go of her wrist, but he probably didn’t realise how his fingers were still in contact with her arm. Tsuande, on the other hand, was aware of those small actions. Not really sure in what way she was supposed to take them, the woman decided to just pull her hand back slowly. 

“You’re not going anywhere for now, though.”   
“I’m aware of that. But I’ll have to set up a meeting with Naruto-“   
“Shut up. Too much for today, it can wait. Let’s go upstairs and watch TV or something.” 

He was amused by her. This image of  _her_ wasn’t new to him, either.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *OroTsu feels intensified*


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me forever to come up with something, I swear! It's short, I'm sorry, but the next one will hopefully appear sooner. I'll do my best to make it longer and better. Also, I literally have no proper title this time oops

_"Tanaka-kun, I don't think we are meant to be..."_ _  
_ _"Don't say that, Minami! Don't tell me it has something to do with that bastard!"_ _  
_ _"Leave Daisuke out of it!"_  
Sarada sighed as she changed the TV program.  
"It's the 100th time they play this stupid drama. The girl cheating on that poor boy was so predictable, why did they even bother?"  
"Maybe you shouldn't be so harsh, Sarada. There might just be a fan of the series among us," remarked Mitsuki. Boruto hid his head behind a cushion from his living room's sofa. Even so, they could still spot his red ears.  
After hours of wandering around the village, the four teenagers ultimately decided to have a sleepover at the Uzumaki siblings. It was enough space for everyone to sleep in the guest room. Hinata prepared them dinner and then left the mansion to stay at the Hyūga residence.

At this point they were playing Uno over and over; Sarada won easily each time, while the blond always lost in humility. Mitsuki and Himawari, on the other hand, altered the second and third place. In the background there was some music playing on  music channel. The Uzumaki girl was humming along from time to time. Sarada tapped her finger against the floor on the rhythm.

“I’m bored!” groaned Boruto.  
“You’re saying that because you keep losing, Onii-chan,” Himawari replied flatly. Mitsuki put his card down, not really minding Boruto’s complaining.  
“Can’t we talk or something?” the blond suggested.  
“Sure,” Mitsuki shrugged. “Who goes first?”  
“I do!” Himawari took that as her cue to embarrass her brother, already thinking of questions to ask him.  “Well, let’s see… I trained with Aunt Hanabi as usual while you were gone, but about a week ago I met up with Inojin.”  
Upon hearing that, Mitsuki’s first instinct was frowning, but he refrained from doing so. However, a vague feeling of emptiness in his stomach now became a factor of discomfort. _STUPID!_ He told himself. Somehow, he managed to keep a relatively straight face on.  
“And we had a lovely time together! More precisely, we talked about you among other stuff, Boruto.” His face showed a mix of confusion and fear. Inojin had a certain talent at making people feel humiliated. From what Naruto had told him, Boruto understood that Ino was responsible for this.  
“So, tell me, is it true that you were about to write a love letter to every girl in your class?” The boy frowned and lowered his head, trying to hide his pink face. He was stuck and couldn’t really make up anything on the spot.  
“There was no witness to that, so he could have lied to you…”  
“I never thought you could be _that_ much of a lady killer, Boruto,” said Mitsuki, with his typical smile on. At first, it was hard for his teammates to decipher his expression, but eventually, it was clear that smile was a mixture of sarcasm and sass.  
“You really are an idiot,” Sarada said flatly.  
Not wanting to appear too bothered, he straightened his back and with a rather cocky attitude, addressed himself to his little sister.  
“Big deal! We all did some embarrassing things as children! What about you, though? You also did something weird… at a point…” Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t recall any humiliating moment for Himawari.  
“Oh, there is actually a recent one!” Boruto’s jaw dropped in shock; she was just going to share an awkward moment as if it’s nothing. As he reevaluated the situation, he realised that probably it was just him that needed to lighten up a bit.  
“I’ve heard from my friends that Jiraiya used to be a novelist. Obviously, I was stirred; I wanted to see how good at writing papa’s godfather was. I picked it up from here,” she pointed where it was, on the bookshelf, “ and brought it at training, for lunch break.” At this point, the other three probably felt more ashamed for her than she herself felt at that point in time. “And that’s the story of how I had _the talk_ with aunt Hanabi.” This, along Himawari’s simper, sparked laughter among Boruto and his friends. The blond could only imagine her dumbfounded face when Hanabi probably smacked that book from her hands as she started talking about (not) having kids.  
“A year ago, Kakashi asked me to make a commentary on that damn book,” started Sarada. “While I respect Jiraya-san, the series was complete garbage.”  
Boruto raised his hand in objection, but Mitsuki put it down for him. “So as I was writing it, dad came home and walked upstairs to see me. As you can imagine, I never got to finish that essay. Dad left and came back in a matter of seconds, which was weird. It made sense, however, when next day, Kakashi apologised for giving me such task.”  
“So Uchiha-san  _is_ strict,” stated Mitsuki.  
“Don’t _you_ have an embarrassing story, Mitsuki?” Himawari chimed in.  
“Uh, not really. If you can count this, Karin insisted on having _the talk_ with me, despite me reassuring her of my parent being open and all. She stressed the fact that she couldn’t trust him with his information regarding the subject.”  
“... I mean, her intentions were good, I suppose,” guessed Boruto.

* * *

 

On that same night, Orochimaru and Tsunade were minding their own business; Tsunade was desperate to pass a Candy Crush level and Orochimaru was messaging Log so he could stay permanently updated with everything happening in Otogakure.

If his deeds would miraculously be forgiven and he were to be invited back to Konoha for good, he would still stay in Oto. No matter how much time passed and what life taught him, he still had the mindset that Konoha wronged him ever since they took away his parents, and everything just went downhill from there. True, he trusted Naruto not to do the same, but just like he wronged some people (though he felt no remorse), so did the village. This “amicable” thing between Oto and Konoha was enough. Even if he wanted, he never felt homesick at all; Konoha would never be a place for him to call home.

“Orochi,” called Tsunade. He raised his glance from his phone, now eyeing her. “Did you really sneak out without telling Yamato a thing?”  
“I wish.” Half a smile was now forming on his lips. “Just for Mitsuki’s sake, I refrain from doing such things. Yamato should be with Kakashi or something. Don’t really care.”  
She just nodded, then returned to her activity in silence.  
“I must say that I plan on staying in Konoha for some time. If you cannot host me for more than a day or two, you just have to tell me.” His playful tone made her roll her eyes in annoyance.  
“Whatever. You invited yourself here, so what does it matter whether it’s a week or a month?” She then sipped on what was probably her third cup of tea. “Plus, don’t act as if we didn’t grow up together.”  
“What a lovely time that was,” he said in what could be interpreted as an ironic manner, but she decided to ignore him.

* * *

 

The following days went by fast. Nothing too interesting happened; Sasuke and the translation team struggled to understand the scroll, without any results, Himawari went back to train with Hanabi as usual, Team Konohamaru were either training together or patrolled the village and nearby, and Orochimaru thought he would make some more research before going to Naruto to discuss the whole issue.

While ChouChou and Inojin stopped caring about the scroll, Shikadai was still bugged by that matter; he couldn’t bring himself to believe that absolutely no one in the village knew what the deal was. Even so, he didn’t feel like butting in this matter any further than necessary.

All this time, however, Mitsuki had not heard a single word from his parent. For some reason, he didn't message him, either. So it was quite a surprise to see him on Tsunade’s couch, when he decided he would make his teacher a visit. Knowing it would be pointless to question Orochimaru regarding his intentions, he just shrugged it off and joined the two of them.

Tsunade showed enthusiasm as she remarked Mitsuki’s Byakugou Seal on his forehead. While she was impressed and felt proud both for him and herself, she was not exactly surprised. After all, he was Orochimaru’s son, and no matter how much one intends to treat a child as a single standing individual, the parents’ print will always be, in a certain quantity, a part of the offspring.

Fortunately, Mitsuki took a path different from Orochimaru, and she committed herself to the role of his guide; she won’t let him slip through her hands, like she did with his parent.

“How’s it like being back, darling? Adjusting well?”  
“All good! Having a great time with Sarada and Boruto. Our teamwork is as good as ever, and that helps keep a positive vibe. How about you? Feeling nostalgic?”  
“Not necessarily. Just collecting clues regarding the Kusanagi.” Mitsuki’s face lightened up immediately.

He started telling to the two of them what he had discovered upon encountering the trio. As he spoke to Tsunade and Orochimaru, he realised that the two of them were no strangers to the subject; they were permanently exchanging looks and and occasionally nodded. When he finished, he dared ask them.  
“I suppose you _do_  know more about it.” They approved of his statement. He took a deep breath, continuing. “Could you please enlighten me, then? I know it’s an Imperial Regalia, but what could possibly happen if it’s in wrong hands?”  
“The death of the Third Hokage,” she coughed. Orochimaru didn’t even turn his head to her. Mitsuki sighed loudly, then eyed his parent, demanding the information regarding the weapon.  
“First of all, what happened back there was suicide,” he mentioned, then went on with the main subject of their discussion, “It’s not about what could happen to the wielder’s enemies, but to the sword itself. Mom told me it’s a well crafted sword that will not wear out if it’s well taken care of. But even if it’s sharpened it and cleaned it on a regular basis, it’s all for nothing if the wielder lacks the proper technique when using it.”  
“And what’s that?”  
“Something that’s passed on from generation to generation.”  
“Sooo cheesy, Ororchi,” remarked Tsunade.

He then continued to tell him about the hideouts and his assumptions regarding the current whereabouts of the sword.  
“And now, the scroll. It’s a sign I should talk with Sasuke and Naruto soon. I have to let them know that scroll is just a copy of the original. When I was about 18, I found the original scroll in the house, and near it was a note where it said I can find another one in Suna in case I lost the original.”  
“I was with him back then,” added Tsunade. But when asked about the content, neither of them gave an immediate answer. “It’s barely about the sword.” These were Orochimaru’s only words.  
“Why are you being so vague, though?”  
“There’s a time and place for everything, Mitsuki,” said Tsunade firmly. Mitsuki wasn’t planning to have any of that vague and unusual attitude of theirs, but he decided to let it slide for now.

* * *

 

“Too slow!”

Himawari was now only in defense mode, dodging and blocking all of Hanabi’s moves. Ultimately, she couldn’t keep up and fell on her back. The Hyūga extended her hand, for Himawari to grab and get up.  
“Should we take a break?”  
“Uh-huh.”

At the shadow of the tree, the two girls relaxed with a snack and some juice.  
“What’s up with you these days? You seem off.”  
Himawari was still trying to catch her breath. “I don’t know.”  
“You seem distracted. Is there something bothering you?”

She thought about it for a bit, but then she wondered whether it was worth mentioning or not. From tired, her expression turned into a hopeless one, thing that made Hanabi more observant of the girl. She put her arm around her niece.  
“Come on, you know you can tell your auntie anything! If you don’t want me to say a word to your parents you have my word, kiddo.” This cheered up the blue eyed girl, just enough to make her crack a smile.  
“Thank you, Hanabi. I suppose it’s Boruto and Sarada. When Mitsuki came back to Konoha, they seemed to be… off? They obviously tried to act normal, but they appeared to be so tense around him. I didn’t notice it at first, either, but gradually, it kind of became obvious to me, at least.”

Hanabi clearly did not have a solution for this; she wasn’t _too_ familiar with Boruto’s team and how the other two are as everyday people, but whatever happened, she could tell it was a weird and slippery situation. For it to go this far and bother Himawari, who would’ve thought? When she asked her if they had a fight or something, Himawari said it wasn’t the case. It was only that Mitsuki went for a year back to Oto.

“Himawari, whatever it might be, they will figure it out themselves. I know what it’s like to see your sibling sad and not be able to do something about it, but time mends the pain.”  
“That’s good to know. Thank you again,” she grinned.  
“But now that you mention it,” Hanabi’s voice suddenly had a playful tone, “you met with Mitsuki when he came back. And you seem off yourself.” Slowly, she was getting closer. “Do you have a thing-“  
“I mean, he’s cute,” she said out flatly, without letting Hanabi finish. She did not face her; Himawari just stared into the sky with some sort of vacancy in her eyes. “Yeah, he’s cute,” she repeated.  
“You’re so not your mom. She was turning red each time she heard your father’s name. Kind of cute, I suppose.” She recalled those days with a sense of nostalgia. “Does he think the same of you?” Himawari just shrugged.  
“Don’t you wanna find out?”  
“If it’s the case, I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.” Finally, she turned back to her aunt, with a vague smile on.

 


	5. Love Blooms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took me some time but I'm back with a longer chapter than usual!  
> Also here's a reminder that you can follow me on instagram and deviantArt for my art and drawings related to the fic (@hxshigaki76 on both platforms). I recently did something OroTsu related that will appear in the next chapter! I also posted it on tumblr (@katssura).
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Sasuke’s task of deciphering the scroll seemed to last an eternity. The frustration caused by the lack of results was increasing gradually, and its undeniable link to Orochimaru was not helping his case at all. He insisted on contacting the Sannin, especially since he was in Konoha, but Naruto said a meeting had already been planned, therefore any more interaction would be unnecessary.  


It was only obvious that he could barely contain himself with anger when Orochimaru stated shamelessly that he had the original scroll _and_ knew the alphabet.  
“So you had all the information needed to make sense of this, yet you waited over a week to come here at the office and tell us?”  
“I had hoped Karin would’ve been able to provide me with more intel regarding those hideouts, Sasuke-kun,” replied Orochimaru, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Tsunade accompanied him for the meeting, and much to his delight, she would be the one watching over him during his whole staying in Konoha. Of course her presence was a lot more enjoyable than Yamato’s.

“Anyway,” coughed Shikadai, “at this point, all that matters is for you to cooperate and let us know whether the scroll is related to those hideouts or not.” He and Sasuke were right besides Naruto’s desk; Orochimaru was right across and Tsunade was leaning against a wall, just waiting for everything to be over.  
“Right now, the scroll could be useful to us, as the sword might just be in the enemy’s possession. Its initial purpose was to serve as a backup for the original scroll that I have in Otogakure. They were written by my mother with a cypher inspired by the Ōtsutsuki alphabet. Luckily, I remember every character.” The other three men were shocked to hear about the possible whereabouts of the sword, but what truly surprised them was how did his mother know about the Ōtsutsuki. But it wasn’t the best moment to wonder about that. “Now,” he extended his arm in Sasuke’s direction slowly, “if I may.”

There was some hesitation on the other side of the table; the three shinobi exchanged looks and seemed troubled by the idea of handing it to the long haired man. However, hence he was the only one who knew how to make sense of the content of the scroll, Sasuke passed it to him.  
He analyzed it carefully. It was just as light as the one he had, only that its colour stood out; his was golden, while the one he was holding was lilac. He opened it on the desk in front of him and had everyone gather around, including Tsunade. It smelled like old paper and still had some bits of sand in it, which Orochimaru got rid of carefully. First, he inspected it and rolled it from beginning to end trying to find any distinctive features from the original, but nothing differed at all. The Earthly Branch for snake and the kanji for moon were placed exactly the same way. He rolled the scroll to the middle and then started explaining to the group.

“In the beginning, the history of the sword is told. As in my opinion, we cannot afford to lose time with that, I say we jump to its rules of usage.” He follows the text with his index finger; it was as if he wasn’t reciting the information from his head, but rather reading everything in that strange alphabet. “The sword cuts through everything. It can be manipulated by the user depending on their skills, from telekinesis control to multiplying. At times, depending on the person holding it, Kusanagi can be an intermediate for the living and for the dead. It can only deteriorate if the wielder taints it with any kind of blood but the human one. The effect can be the other way around if the user has any sort of instability, be it physical or mental.” It was almost as if he stopped midway, but how he pulled his hand back and raised his head to look at the Konoha officials, clearly showed that he was done with the scroll.

“... That’s it?” Naruto asked.  
“I think it’s plenty. These are the rules, causes and effects of the sword. Everything else is literally history.”  
“And can you let us know just how is this related to those hideouts that _theoretically_ none of us know anything about?!” demanded Sasuke.  
Orochimaru took out of a photo from an inner pocket from his kimono and put it atop the opened scroll. It was zoomed in and kind of blurry. What the image showed was a man in motion, wearing a grey hooded cloak. He was holding a jian sword with a turquoise tomoe-shaped stone at the upper end of the handle. It was easy to spot it, since a ray of light reflected into it. As the dots finally connected in their minds, the uneasiness started growing thick in the atmosphere. Kusanagi being in the hands of a possible enemy was a terrifying thought.

“What now?” Shikamaru broke the silence.  
“Nothing. All my information is from Karin and Log. This is the only major clue we have.“  
“But I don’t get it; you all know very well about the hideouts you’re talking about, where they are. Can’t you send anyone inside for spying?” Tsunade stepped in.  
Nobody said anything. She looked around, frowning.  
“You haven’t even thought of it, have you?”  
Naruto shrugged slowly and grinned awkwardly, while Shikamaru and Sasuke avoided eye contact with her. Ultimately, she turned to Orochimaru.  
“Don’t look at me. I am short on staff. One of them is a medic, another has a precious kekkei genkai and Log is my son.”  
“What about the Kiri boy?”  
“I mean,” he looked around, trying to think of something fast, “he makes a good assistant.”  
The woman put her palm over her face, trying not to get too angry at the four of them. Only if she was in charge with everything- **_  
_**Really. What _if_ she was in charge of the current situation?  
It was true that this did not concern her in the slightest, yet Orochimaru got her involved with the mission. Since nobody in that room was too serious about solving the problem once and for all, which meant her precious time being cut short, she was confident she could do a better job. It was the most practical thing to do.  
Therefore, she took the photo, closed the scroll and gave it to Orochimaru, thing that stirred some glares from Naruto and the others. The other Sannin was quite confused himself.

“Listen here. If you don’t take this seriously, I will. If this will take from my precious time, I am going to make sure it won’t last long, especially if we are dealing with real threats. We can never be too cautious.” The three Konoha shinobi listened to her words carefully, and looked at her with admiration and respect. Surprisingly, Sasuke was no exception. Orochimaru, on the other hand, was rather intrigued by her. His smudged smirk was all over his face, and his golden eyes were glued to her face. She didn’t seem to notice, though. Tsunade was too fixated on making herself clear, like the leader she once was. Because of that, she never failed to fascinate Orochimaru without even realising.  
“We will wait for more information from Otogakure till Sunday. This means Orochimaru has to send Karin or someone else to track down those shinobi, and be _persistent_ about it. We can make use of any information we will obtain. Until then, we will prepare a team to go in the said hideouts. It can be the two of us,” she pointed to herself and Orochimaru, “accompanied by someone, or some other people.” She went on to explain her plan, how a Hyūga clan member would be ideal for such mission, and how keeping the matter away from the public was for the best, despite her not being a fan of such policy.  
All of them were on the same page with her, and agreed to do exactly how they were told by the Fifth Hokage. She and Orochimaru then left the office, with their hopes up high; this whole chaos would finally make sense and they would put it to an end once and for all.  


There was one more thing that bugged Tsunade, though.  
“Why’d you lie to Mitsuki?”  
Orochimaru raised his eyebrows, avoiding to speak up.  
“Come on. You told him the scroll was barely related to the sword at all. Why? You made him aware of your vilest actions, yet you lied about the scroll.”  
Pretending that only then he understood her question, Orochimaru shrugged and stayed silent for a moment, before finally answering her.  
“I think Mitsuki knows I wasn’t honest with him back then. It was just a way of telling him to stay away from this.”

“Are you scared he might get hurt if it comes down to fighting the enemy?” teased Tsuande. “You’ve become so soft, Orochimaru.”  
“I beg to differ, dear Tsunade,” he chuckled. “But honestly? God forbid anyone lays a finger on my dear son.”

* * *

 

Despite the relative constant patrols he was assigned, Mitsuki did not have much to do in Konoha, therefore, he had more time to let himself be bugged by trivial stuff. Obviously, it wasn’t as if he purposefully allowed certain thoughts to bother him, but rather didn’t try to chase them away. They would eventually go away, right?  
Still, Inojin hanging out with Himawari sounded wrong.  
Orochimaru and Tsunade were clearly hiding something, and it was so obvious and annoying.  
Boruto and Sarada’s slight coldness towards him left the boy with a sour taste in his mouth.  
And while no, he could obviously not be rationally jealous on a boy for spending time with the girl he liked, mad at his family for probably keeping him safe or blame his friends for being a bit skeptical towards him after he had just disappeared for a period of time; his position was not a pleasant one to be in.  
If nothing was going to change, his energy would slowly be consumed by such intrusive thoughts, and it was clear this is not what Mitsuki wished.  
He had to do something about it. And for starters, a walk sounded reasonable.

Mitsuki bought an ice popsicle and wandered through the village carefreely, in an attempt to clear his mind. He saluted familiar faces and smiled sincerely to everyone. The surroundings mostly consisted of diverse shops and buildings that could only be admired, grace to the wide range of colors and abstract architecture in some cases. Konoha was such a lovely place to be in. While it certainly lacked the natural environment compared to Otogakure, and became considerably modern, it still had that warmth of a hometown.  
Walking down the street, distracted by his daydreaming, he just so happened to bump into a certain someone.  
“I’m so sorry-“ they both said simultaneously. As they eyed each other, their jaws hung open for a while, then let out a small nervous laughter.  
“How’s it going, Mitsuki? Haven’t seen you in a while,” pointed out Himawari.  
“Nothing much, actually. Just getting some fresh air.”  
“Nee, Mitsuki, that’s not the best thing to do in the middle of a village so populated. Say, would you like going in the forest nearby? Training ended faster today, so a walk would be wonderful.”  
He accepted in a heartbeat and in no time, the two of them were at the gate of Konoha.

At first, Mitsuki was a little scared he would be stuck with words around her and that their whole time spent together would be nothing but awkward silence. Fortunately, Himawari was all about sharing her training routine. He was a bit surprised to learn that she began as early as 7 a.m., or that the Hyūga clan was very keen on training to take place within their district as much as possible. While it didn’t bother her that much, she confessed she liked the woods a lot more.  
“I am currently specializing in wind style, obviously enough. Quite proud to say I am very good at it, but there’s always place for better! Mitsuki, you and Boruto make a good combo, am I right? Since you’re both relying a lot on wind techniques as well.”  
“That’s correct.”  
“I believe you’re amazing on your own as well. After all, I got the chance to see a glimpse of your skills not long ago. Training with you was fun and also quite helpful!” Mitsuki’s warm smile grew even larger now, pleased to be reminded that to Himawari, his company was indeed a pleasant one.

She went on telling him about her team and how they got along pretty well, the internal missions (that Boruto would describe as “lame”) they had went on, how Naruto worried way too much at times for her safety and so on. She was sharing all these things considered trivial by some, yet he had her full attention and was completely captivated by her stories. Himawari was enchanting, and he didn’t need more time to be sure of it.

But as she was lost in her story telling, and he was absorbed by it, they found themselves in the middle of the forest, not able to distinguish any sign to indicate them just where in the world they ended up, or what path they should take to go back to Konoha. Neither of them could tell for how long they’ve been gone, or how far they had got. Himawari tried checking the location on her phone, but the signal was awful.  
“We could just climb a tree and see the skyscrapers right away,” as he rolled his sleeves to get ready, the girl grabbed him lightly by his shoulder.  
“Since it’ll be that easy, can’t we just kill a bit more time around here?” Her tone was somewhat awkward, yet barely noticeable to Mitsuki. “I haven’t taken a walk with someone in a while.”  
“Sure- I mean, I hope your parents won’t worry about you.”  
She suggested sitting down near a tree, and so they did.

The teenagers sat in a rather uncomfortable silence they didn’t dare to break for a minute or two. They avoided visual contact, yet their gazes met as they tried to peek on each other from the corner of their eyes.  
“Say,” spoke up Himawari, taking Mitsuki by surprise, “you never talk much about you. I often find myself wondering-” _what’s your family really like,_ she wanted to asked, but stopped midway, thinking that maybe her tone was too demanding. She knew he was raised by a single parent, but Mitsuki never talked much about them. How were they like? Were there other relatives of his in the village he came from? She was extremely curious, yet she realised it wasn’t exactly her place to ask for answers. “-if you are happy with what you have.” Himawari felt quite embarrassed.  
For a brief moment, Mitsuki was stuck with a blank stare, then he finally proceeded to actually look into her eyes. He giggled, much to Himawari’s relief.  
“I suppose I am not the best at talking about myself. I think there’s not much to be said. Otogakure, the village where I’m from, is mostly uninhabited: that’s why I came to Konoha. My parent… is not an awful person.” The way he said that in a nonchalant way made her question the situation in her mind, but ultimately let it slide. “In his own way, he cares for me deeply. I was also raised by a guy from Kirigakure; he is my parent’s assistant and was a friend of Sasuke-san when they were about our age. And by the way, I have a brother, but it’s a bit more complicated since he’s older than me.”  
“You’ve had an older brother all this time and I knew nothing about him?!” she squealed full of excitement.  
“Now come think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned him to Sarada or Boruto.” Himawari couldn’t help but feel a bit more special for knowing this before them. “But he’s nice, we do get along well. By the way, we are identical! The only difference is that Log has a scar on his right side of the face,” he gestured it across his cheek. How he got it was still a mystery to him.  
“That’s an interesting choice of name if you ask me,” she pointed out. “Speaking of, what’s your parent called?”  
“Orochimaru,” he replied without any hesitation.  
_Orochimaru, Orochimaru…_ why was this name familiar to her? Had she already asked before? Did he ever work for her father? She had no face to associate the name with, and it was a bit frustrating. Still, she smiled in response, and told him she’d be honored to meet his parent one day. He told her that yes, he was very happy with what he had; both a loving family and wonderful friends to rely on.

While continuing their chitchat, Himawari started picking up the flowers around her and made a crown out of them. It wasn’t as brilliant as the ones of sunflower, but it was very pretty just like that. Mitsuki admired both her skills and her work.  
“I must say, ChouChou is a lucky girl! Inojin gives her wonderful flower crowns whenever he gets his hands on some fine flowers from the Yamanaka shop.” The confused look she got from Mitsuki amused Himawari greatly. She almost spotted some sort of relief in his eyes as well for some reason.  
“You didn’t know about them?” He shook his head no. “Now you do! And let me tell you, they are adorable! Now they’re teasing Boruto and Sarada to go out with them on a double date, but they keep denying they are a thing for some reason. Whatever, I guess. One day they will walk the alleys of Konoha holding hands and completely forget about these cringey moments.”  
“That’s Boruto and Sarada for you.”  
“How about you, though?”

That was unexpected.

Stuck between confessing or avoiding the question, Mitsuki tried his best to keep a neutral face in the meantime, not breaking the eye contact. He wasn’t necessarily anxious, yet he couldn’t deny the hesitation in his heart.  
“And how am I supposed to take this question as?” With that blank expression on, it certainly came out a lot more rude than he expected. But Himawari seemed to not realize it at all. On the contrary; she thought Mitsuki was being a bit of a tease, which only fueled her to push the matter further.  
“Are there several ways you can interpret such a simple question?”  
“Maybe so. You tell me.”  
“Do you like someone, Mitsuki? Is this better?”  
“I just might,” the words slipped through his mouth. It was clearly not his intention to be this direct, and when he realised what just happened, the boy just wanted to make a run for it. Yet, he sat still, with that faked indifferent look on, staring back at her bright blue eyes. “And she’s hypnotizing.”  
She didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t that. Theoretically, the girl didn’t know who the boy was talking about, yet she hoped it was her. He really seemed to be truthful about his confession, and it sent a jolt of emotion throughout her body. Though she widened her eyes a bit involuntarily, she just grinned afterwards and got up, trying not to give herself away.  
“I’d say that’s a rather bold statement, considering the fact that ‘you _might just’_ like the girl. But if that’s how you feel, Mitsuki, I can only hope you are right about her. It’s getting late, though. We should get going, don’t you think?”

They successfully found their way back home through the dense forest.

When he entered his apartment, Mitsuki was quite relieved to see that his parent actually chose to stay at Tsunade’s for good while in Konoha; he needed some time alone to think about what had just happened. It wasn’t clear to him whether Himawari figured out it was her or not, but he certainly felt like he took part of a huge weight off his heart.  
Changing his clothes, he realised something was hanging from the purse from his back. He grabbed it carefully, becoming first aware of its circular form and then of its fragile and wired texture. Upon seeing it, he recognised the flower crown from earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify some information:  
> Earthly Branch = Chinese Zodiac Sign  
> The Kusanagi is described to be a jian sword in Japanese folklore (double edged sword)  
> In the anime, the sword has some distinctive features, such as the tomoe shaped stone mentioned.


	6. It’s Only Comfort Calling Late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So long for the quick update... but it’s longer than the other chapters! There’s only OroTsu in this chapter and while it was a pain to write the beginning, I am cery happy with how it turned out. Enjoy!

It was no easy job for Suigetsu to be the right hand of the top missing-nin in the whole ninja world. From babysitting to killing mental shinobi that could have anything up their sleeve, he had done it all. It was neither easy, nor pleasant, yet it was this position that ensured him everything he needed.

Therefore, sneaking into some hideouts nearby Oto was no big deal.

While it was rather unfortunate he couldn't spot any faces at all, the conversations he overheard were quite interesting. He came back with quite some interesting information that might just put Orochimaru's patience to the test. Until then, he just had to make sense of the notes he took and what he recorded.

 

* * *

 

 

"Three more days till we start the investigation ourselves. I hope your assistants got their hands on some useful information," said Tsunade from her couch.

"Oh, they have. I am just waiting for the complete report," replied Orochimaru, walking around the living room. "Everything's in our favour so far. Anyway, do you have something interesting to read? I lost count of the days I've been here and there's nothing to do but watch TV and play on the cellphone. Tsunade, you're boring."

"You telling me that means nothing," she whispered under her breath. How was she boring compared to some loner who decided to dedicate his life to research while living in a cave for what could be an eternity? Oh, how she despised his attitude. "And what would you want to do?"

He made his way through the living room, then sat down near Tsunade. Orochimaru put both of his hands on her shoulder and got extremely close to her face, their foreheads almost touching. Based solely on his expression, though, the woman could tell he wasn't being serious at all about it. Just another distasteful attempt at teasing her. Still, she let him do his number.

"Why don't we go gambling, like in the good old days? There must be something in Konoha, you'd know best. We can go drinking after; I haven't drunk in years. What do you say, up for some quality time with your good old friend?"

While his fake puppy eyes were basically staring into her soul, she returned the gaze with a skeptic look. Next thing he knew, Tsunade's hand was all over his face, pushing him away, genuinely taking him by surprise.

"Who are you and what did you do to Orochimaru?"

He managed go grab her wrist and put her hand away slowly. Considering the force she had, it was a miracle he managed to do so.

"Oh, now don't act responsible, that's just hypocritical. Look at me and tell me you would better stay here when there's surely a gambling house nearby."

It was more than clear Orochimaru was speaking the truth, he knew her way too well. She wasn't sure whether it was in fact a good idea to just go out with him. It was very unlikely that he'd do something fishy, but she could never be 100% confident when it came to him. She extended her hand in his direction and addressed herself to him:

"Your weapons. Now."

First, he chuckled and tried to convince her it wasn't the case, but she was aware how bad of a liar he is. Rolling his eyes, he pulled from the inside of his kimono a set of shuriken, kunai and some poisons. She put them all on the coffee table. Slowly, he tried turning away from her, but Tsunade wouldn't have any of it.

"Orochimaru, all of them," she hissed. Clearly pissed off, he got out a small kunai and even more potions from his sleeve.

"All," she demanded for the last time, as he handed her the last weapons he had on him. "You're so extra. You don't even need all this stuff to get things done, yet you carry them around you."

"They come in handy quite often, believe me," he shrugged.

 

The Casino was at about two kilometers south from Konoha, so they got to their destination fairly quick by foot. Tsunade started showing more excitement on their way, while Orochimaru was becoming unsure of his decision to go out. He didn't really mind it, though, as he was very lucky most of the time.

As the two of them opened the door, the sannin were immediately greeted by a person practically flying out of the building, barely avoiding Orochimaru. Things were rather heated for a late Friday afternoon.

The moment they stepped in, all the buzz stopped abruptly. What could've been hundreds of people froze as the whispers circulated around: "Orochimaru's here", "The Sannin showed up", "Don't move, he'll kill us". Though, Tsunade and Orochimaru could clearly hear them talking. It didn't really matter to them, but it was rather bothering to walk the way to the casino only to be greeted by such killjoys.

Making their way in, the whole atmosphere changed as some tough looking guys jumped in front of them. They were ripped, covered in tattoos and wore some outdated Kiri uniforms.

"Are you really the Sannin?" asked a rather arrogant dude.

"Shithead, they're clearly just two, can't you even count?"

Those guys were seriously embarrassing themselves, but it didn't seem like they were aware of it. Most people exchanged looks and some would even get close to cracking up, given their ridiculousness. Tsunade and Orochimaru appeared to be annoyed with those "tough" guys, but let them finish their moment.

"Anyway, how about you show us your legendary powers by playing some poker?"

It made absolutely no sense, but they obviously agreed, since their main objective for the day was to play some matches, and not to get stared at by a couple of strangers.

 

They say the snake signifies good luck and fortune. Whether it's true or not, no one can tell for sure, but Tsunade was undoubtedly the champion of the day with Orochimaru by her side. The money she won could almost make up for the amount she lost during her lifetime and even erase once and for all her nickname as "The Legendary Sucker". Despite her being the one actually playing, Orochimaru was still enjoying himself as he watched her win over and over again, knowing he'd have his share of money.

Spending the Yen on some drinks that evening sounded reasonable enough. They started lightly with (outrageously expensive) cocktails that certainly put them in a better mood than before.

People would come full of confidence but then leave with their pockets empty from the table where the Sannin established themselves. Ironically, the more they drank, the easier they defeated their opponents. That until a youngster's turn had come.

He didn't appear to be older than 12, but this wasn't the curious thing about him, rather his nonchalant expression. It was shrugged off initially.

"I'll keep it short. If you win, you get this nice bag of gold I have here," he placed it carelessly on the table, making it shake. "However, if you lose, you both have to shave your heads."

Unphased, Tsunade started shuffling the cards. She was stopped by the kid right away.

"Oh, we're not playing cards," he said, then pointed far left. A huge TV in the corner of the room had an Xbox installed, with Just Dance's start menu on the screen.

That was unexpected.

They had two options: chickening away from this challenge, or take it on. Looking like a coward didn't sound like a bad idea, since they had their pockets full at this point. But it quickly turned into a matter of winning when Tsunade realised it was the 2015 version. In Konoha, she had the highest score for the hardcore version of "Bad Romance", followed by Kakashi with little behind her. That kid must've known of her accomplishment. Her ambition did not allow her to refuse the challenge; she was very confident in her abilities of a retired woman in her 70's with too much time on her hands.

"We have a deal, but only if you agree on 'Bad Romance'."

"Then when I'm up against your... friend," he said hesitating, as the kid was not sure of their relationship, or Orochimaru's age and gender, "I get to choose a song on the spot. Both of you have to defeat me."

Tsunade got up from her seat eagerly, making space for herself in the crowd of people to get to the Xbox. Why was there a young teenager or the Xbox set up in the casino? She had no idea and at that point, frankly, she couldn't care less. The blonde knew she stood a chance against him.

Before beginning the game, Orochimaru approached her as fast as he could. He dragged her out of the Kinect area of recognition to talk to her.

"Listen here, I don't know what you had in your drinks, but I am not shaving my head because you might lose. This hair maintained its reputation as the silkiest and the softest there ever was on this Earth and I plan on not changing anything, you understand? I hope you know what you're doing."

"Orochi, Orochi, no need to get all angry. First, it takes more to get me drunk and make horrible decisions; hell, I've taken worse decisions when sober. Secondly, you Silkiest and Softest Hair Ever™ will be just fine; I've beaten Kakashi, Sakura and many more countless times at Just Dance, and this song just so happens to be my specialty. I am the one that should be concerned. Though, I believe you have something up your sleeve as usual," she winked at him, then went back near the kid.

Everyone gathered around the two competitors, not knowing exactly what to expect. Because most of them rooted for the kid, Orochimaru started feeling uneasy. 'Top rogue nin, along with his ex teammate, humiliated as they lose to a random teenager at Just Dance' was probably going to be tomorrow's headline and it genuinely gave him the chills.

When the game finally began, he closed his eyes for a couple seconds. He didn't want to see the moment that would decide his appearance's fate. What if he wasn't giving Tsunade enough credit, though? He mustered the nerve to look at her, but he immediately regretted it. She looked horrendous. Maybe she was better off being boring in her living room, complaining about her occasional trips to the hospital and Mei's petty attitude. However, the boy looked upset, exhausted and equally as uncool as her. Orochimaru finally dared to glance at the screen, and he had quite a surprise. She was actually in the lead, despite the close scores. It seemed they both couldn't care less about their posture as long as they got their points.

Tsunade had tunnel vision for the TV screen, although by that point, she probably knew the moves for the dance by heart. Peeking at the score was a risky move, therefore the whole showdown seemed to have lasted longer than it actually had. So when she finished her performance, Tsunade felt so relieved to see herself on the top of the chart. Next to her, the kid fell on the ground, drained of life and energy.

"Never mind the... dude you're with, lady. Take all my money and leave me alone! You're not human, jeez..." he managed to say as he tried catching his breath.

He looked kind of pitiful. Tsunade recalled all the times she lost as a kid: bets and other games at the casino, how no one had mercy for the young girl she was. So it was the moral thing to let it slip this time and not take the money.

 

 

At this point, they stopped playing cards or at the pachinko machines, and started spending their money on even more drinks, sitting at the bar. From Asahi to absinthe, the rest of the time they spent there was interesting.

Orochimaru hadn't had so much alcohol in such a long time, yet he did a better job at keeping himself together compared to Tsunade. His head was hurting terribly, though, and he started feeling hot so he put his hair up in a bun. If he recalled correctly, last time he felt this bad from drinking was also with Tsunade, Jiraiya as well, in between some missions. Besides the fact that they had messed up big time, he remembered absolutely nothing from that said night.

 

Someone sitting across them was also enjoying a lot more alcohol than he could actually handle, and his burps were so loud, they covered the music.

"Don't you just hate people like him? Disgusting."

"Such a swine," remarked Orochimaru. After a bit more thought, he added: "I also find it extremely disturbing when people put the cereal first, then the milk."

Tsunade's eye twitched.

"Is there something wrong?"

She cracked her fingers, not taking her eyes off him.

"Did you just imply that milk goes first?"

Not really understanding her point, he nodded in approval. Next thing he knew, an empty glass flew right into his direction. He had enough time to avoid it, but the object hit a stiff man who was clearly not in the mood for dealing with anything at all. So obviously enough, this disturbed him. So much that he actually got up his seat to find the one guilty of what just happened.

"Who the fuck threw a fucking glass at me?!"

Orochimaru grabbed Tsunade's arm and tried dragging her slowly to the exit. Unfortunately for him, she actually yelled back.

"It was me! You have a problem with that?!"

"Why'd you do that?"

"Because this idiot over here suggested milk goes first, then cereal!"

"Only an idiot would think otherwise!"

"Wanna fight about it, shithead?!"

"Bring it on!"

And so, the casino turned into a wrestling rink for the two of them. Two crowds were cheering for their favorite person, as if it was the wildest thing they've ever seen since the Fourth Shinobi War. But Orochimaru was having none of it. Last thing he wanted was for him to interfere so that they could get out of there, though it seemed it was going to be the case. Plus, what if she-

No, worrying about Tsunade getting injured would have been an insult to her. Even so, the thought of it was there, in the back of his mind. Without second guessing, he went in there and took her by the waist, escaping with the speed of light. It was fortunate he didn't have to pull a trick from up his sleeve, otherwise they would've gotten in serious trouble.

 

"You should've left me there, I was going to kill him!"

"That's what I was afraid about. Not only that, but you get me."

She scoffed, but stopped justifying her actions.

Carrying a drunk Tsunade back home was quite a challenge, since he himself was not exactly sober. Had someone seen him, they could have sworn he was ready to kill a person with his look only. As soon as they got to her house, though, his annoyance slowly turned into calmness; he no longer had to worry about the blonde making a scene. He led Tsunade to her bedroom, sitting her on the bed. She held her head in her hands; the alcohol had really hit her.

The man was ready to leave for the guest room, but not before checking up on her one last time. All this time she's been awfully quiet, so this raised some questions in his mind. On the edge of the mattress, Tsunade was facing the floor, the blond hair covering her face. Orochimaru couldn't help but roll his eyes at such a pitiful sight before finally approaching her. He had to admit it was rather uncomfortable, to say the least.

"Had fun today?"

"Haven't won so much in years. Really takes me back," she confessed plainly. He couldn't really tell the direction this conversation was taking, but decided to just let it happen.

"Maybe you're not that boring after all, Hime," he tried teasing her. At last, she raised her head. It still wasn't a pleasant view. She tried so hard to look indifferent, anyone could tell she had a hard time pretending. Eyeing her and not feeling anything was impossible, though.

"Can you please stay for a bit?" asked Tsunade. He nodded yes, though not fully convinced of his own answer. She suddenly stood up and started moving around, starting a whole rant Orochimaru was not prepared for.

"It's not fair. You're not fair with me, you've never been. You promised me you'd never leave me alone, but that's exactly what you did. Then, Jiraiya casually hung out with me for some drinks right before he went on that suicidal mission. And I was alone, hoping that somehow, through some kind of witchcraft, any of you would finally come back. All of you that ended up leaving me, you were the ones that gave me hope in the first place, especially you! And you came back, but not for me!"

So that's what it's all about, he thought to himself. Today's events most probably triggered something inside her to connect everything with Jiraiya's death and not only. That night was going to be an experience for him. Her lack of coherency got him trying to fill in the gaps himself.

"For the last 13 years after the war you never once dared to get in touch with me," at this point, her voice was cracking. "Were you scared? Or you just simply didn't care?" she paused, breathed in and calmed down. She sat down again, and continued. "Please, talk to me. I want to believe that in a way, we still have each other. What's on your mind?"

He blankly stared back, not really wanting to join what was supposed to be a conversation.

"For some reason, I can't be mad at you. For every single time you left or did not choose to do the moral thing, I think I can forgive you. I'm not sure. I wish I couldn't, but it's not up to my logical judgement." She made a pause. "Almost laughable," she wheezed in a breath.

"You should really go to sleep," suggested Orochimaru. He really did not know how to handle her.

"You know, I always had a thing for you," stated Tsunade, ignoring his words. He was left speechless this time.

He wasn't sure whether he cared about what she just said, if it was actually how she felt or just the alcohol, or if he was just curious. He hadn't been planning on taking this seriously, until he felt Tsunade getting closer to him slowly, but surely. This was not supposed to happen. But in the heat of the moment, he mirrored her actions. She put a hand around his neck, and the other on his own. The tip of their noses were barely touching and on her lips a helpless smile started forming. He couldn't deny Tsunade was stunning. It was easy to get lost in her eyes, her hair framed her face in such a way, it created the illusion she was perfect. Though, it might've been no illusion after all.

But taking advantage of a drunk Tsunade is wrong. Even with their lips so close.

For a bare moment, they remained still. It was likely that Tsunade was waiting for him to make a move this time. His piercing eyes looked at her one last time before breaking the contact. Next thing she knew, Tsunade found herself deep in his embrace. His arms were carefully wrapped around her. It took her some time to realise what was happening, then returned the gesture just in time.

She buried her head in his chest, seeking comfort. It felt right.

"Stay for the night," she mumbled.

Despite not saying a word, she knew he would do so.

 

They both laid in bed, back to back. There were too many things they would have liked to share with each other, probably a dangerous amount of them. It was enough for just one day, so they were better off sitting in silence for the rest of the night.

Tsunade was fast to fall asleep. Orochimaru, on the other hand, couldn't close an eye for hours. There was a high chance she would forget everything the next morning, but he wasn't sure of it. There was no escape, either.

The moment he finally started feeling somewhat sleepy, he felt Tsunade's arms around his waist. And it was fine, he let it all be. Maybe that's how things were supposed to happen, and there was no harm in that.


End file.
